A (new) set of chess men from Jaques of London typically runs around $2000. A lot of older chess players try to acquire such sets because of the history/prestige behind the company, the quality of the craftsmanship, and their love of the game. Most (non-chess playing) folks who see such a set would have no…

I knew the Internet had failed us as an instrument of socio-political enlightenment when twitter comments began to be consulted during so-called news broadcasts. While this sort of thing is really just a ratings grab, an attempt to "involve" viewers by pretending to curry their opinion via social media, the unintended…

I assumed the location got renamed to LV-426 along the way. The fact that the Engineer's ship crashes and lands in a position matching that of the original film is either intended to connect the location to LV-426, or is a very very bad case of fanwanking. And I just know that Ridley Scott wouldn't do something so…

If you've never experienced a boring blow job, then chances are you haven't experienced enough blow jobs. Either that or you are in the camp that believes that any willing mouth is better than none at all, no matter how unenthusiastically or unskillfully applied. I assure you that lack of either enthusiasm or skill…

This goes to show that it is even easier than ever to fool the world's population of gullible dolts who have little to no critical reasoning skills and suck up whatever fanciful story panders to their personal sense of whimsy/doom/paranoia/whatever.

Agree that Prometheus was a waste. Why go to all the trouble to connect the dots with Alien only to get massive details wrong. Like leaving the navigator's chair empty at the end of the film...

This makes complete sense to me. When it was reported that Joss wanted to add another female character to the team, I just knew it was most likely Wasp. Anyone who knows Joss and the kinds of characters he likes to write for could see this as plain as day. A friend of mine kept saying that it ought to be Ms. Marvel,…

Indeed I am. CG fx team.

Re: Babylon 5 - I also thought Za'ha'dum sounded suspiciously like Khazad Dum. And don't forget the immortal First One named Lorien.

Hey, I'm making the pixels as fast as I can... :-)

There is nothing intrinsically superior about 24p over 48p. It is merely what I, and everyone who grew up with 24p film, cognitively recognize as the format for cinematic narratives. Higher frame rates look like video, which we associate with news gathering, soap operas, and live events. Our willing suspension of…

The X franchise predates the MCU. It predates the notion that a single, cinematic universe can contain continuity spanning many films. But ever since the Avengers "experiment" proved to be successful both financially and conceptually, it isn't hard to see why Marvel would feel a burning desire to save the X franchise…

Sure, men like ice cream and chocolate. However, I've met far more women than men who would rather give up sex for the rest of their lives than chocolate. In fact, I've never met a man who would make that choice. I've met plenty of women who said they would. That puts their love for chocolate nearly on the level of…

Best exchange:

Iron Dome is not just a practical military defense technology, it is a valuable tool of brinksmanship. Any time there is an imbalance on the battlefield, there is diplomatic/political leverage available. The more one-sided battlefield conditions are, the shorter the conflict usually is. Be hopeful that both sides do…

Sea monsters or alien installations? Seriously? I weep for the future of our species.

Agree completely. Killam in particular is being groomed as the next breakout star. He certainly has the talent for it, and you could tell the writers loved him from the moment he joined the show.

I am convinced that Agent Coulson is popular simply because somebody with pop culture influence in the blogosphere decided he was full of awesome and then it became hip to agree with that point of view. But if you look objectively at the character itself or the rather bland, matter-of-fact portrayal given to him, you…

She's not a geek girl, fake or otherwise. She is, at most, a geek-in-training. A geek padawan, if you will, but not fully a geek yet. She doesn't pretend to be a geek or lay claim to any of the cultural currency of being a geek. So I'm not sure that sort of girl is what the article is talking about.

What would be an example of a fake geek girl?